WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 64: When Water Is Too Clear, There Are No Fish (12)
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The Undeserving One, Noh Huideok, cursed his middling talent.
He had been born with excellent bones and sinews.
When he was around ten, a Daoist from the Dian Cang Sect happened to be passing through Guangdong and spotted him. The Daoist had exclaimed in admiration.
“What fine bones and sinews. Those long, well-proportioned limbs are perfectly suited to our sect's Sun-Shooting Sword Art!”
Yet they were only good enough to make the Daoist click his tongue in regret.
“Tsk. But his bones are too slight. Everything else is fine, but I don't know whether he can endure our sect's Sun-Shooting Sword Art.”
In the end, the Dian Cang Sect Daoist made Noh Huideok's parents an offer.
“I will take this child with me and raise him. But I cannot promise to make him my disciple. Depending on what he achieves, he may become my direct disciple and learn the mountain's supreme martial art, or he may remain only an outer disciple. It will all depend on him.”
Noh Huideok's parents handed him over to the Daoist without a moment's hesitation.
For a poor farming family, even one less mouth to feed could greatly improve their circumstances.
More importantly, the Dian Cang Sect of Yunnan was a Daoist sect renowned throughout the land. Even country farmers from Guangdong knew its name.
An outer disciple of such a place? He could live as a prominent figure in the region, throwing his weight around. It was like a dragon rising from a ditch. There was nothing to consider.
Of course, they had heard that the road to mastering martial arts was terribly harsh...
But a country farmer's life was hardly easy either. Wolves carried people off, tigers and bears tore them apart, and Black Path scum and corrupt officials passing through picked them clean.
“Huideok. You only need to stay healthy. That's all.”
“Yes. Just stay healthy and finish your training. Then good days will be waiting for you.”
Noh Huideok's parents fed him warm rice and packed up bundles of new clothes before seeing him off. They prayed desperately that his future would be different from the sorrowful fate they had known.
In the end, his parents had been right.
He rose in status by becoming a disciple of the Dian Cang Sect.
A dragon had risen from a ditch. The child of country farmers had become a true martial artist who could command an entire region. It was an incredible rise in the world.
But Noh Huideok could not see it that way.
‘I have to become a mountain-guarding disciple...!’
The Dian Cang Sect Daoist took Noh Huideok in, had him stay at the Daoist's residence and attend to the Daoist, and personally taught him several techniques.
It was extraordinary treatment compared to that received by ordinary outer disciples.
Most outer disciples lived in dormitories in large buildings and received martial arts instruction together according to a fixed schedule.
The treatment Noh Huideok received was therefore similar to that received by the Dian Cang Sect's direct disciples, its mountain-guarding disciples.
But he was not truly one of them.
“Above all else, you must learn to control your strength precisely. If you can control it without wasting even an inch or letting it falter by even an inch, then even with your weak body, you may begin training in the Sun-Shooting Sword Art. Only then will I take you as my direct disciple and make you a mountain-guarding disciple of the Dian Cang Sect.”
Middling talent.
He might become a mountain-guarding disciple.
Or he might not.
Standing on that boundary, Noh Huideok honed himself without rest.
One day, the Daoist said to him,
“Your skill has improved greatly. If you continue advancing like this, I may be able to take you as my direct disciple next year.”
Noh Huideok was twenty then.
It had been exactly ten years since he came to the Dian Cang Sect.
Considering that ordinary direct disciples were usually chosen at fifteen or sixteen, it was exceedingly late.
Still, neither Noh Huideok nor his master had given up on the other through those long years, and at last, they could see the end ahead.
Smiles hung on both their lips.
Clang!
Then the Daoist drew his sword and split a massive boulder.
The cut surface of the divided rock gleamed smooth as a mirror.
“This is the path you must pursue. If your sword can split stone like this, smooth as a mirror, then even with your frail bones and sinews, you can become one of the Dian Cang Sect's foremost swordsmen.”
It was a distant realm.
Still, Noh Huideok swore that he would reach it, whether it took ten years or twenty.
Four months later, the Daoist who had brought Noh Huideok in was defeated and killed while fighting a demonic practitioner.
“...”
Noh Huideok remained an outer disciple of the Dian Cang Sect. By then, he could not become another Daoist's direct disciple.
He was twenty-one.
Eleven years after joining the Dian Cang Sect, he came down the mountain.
As he left the mountain, he cursed his middling talent.
If only he had possessed a little more talent.
If he could have become a mountain-guarding disciple, then perhaps he too could have reached a realm as high as the heavens.
Or else, if only he had possessed a little less talent.
If he had never looked up at the heavens in the first place and learned to be satisfied with the earth beneath his feet.
It was because of his middling talent.
His eyes were fixed on the distant heavens, yet his heavy body crawled across the ground.
Every moment felt like hell.
That was why, when he returned to his home province of Guangdong and met other martial artists, fury often surged within him.
Country martial artists who had never once seen the real thing in their lives.
They were arrogant despite their half-baked skills. They admired commonplace talent and rushed to gild one another's faces.
With only that much skill.
With only that much talent.
Something twisted inside him.
Twisted itself into knots.
By the time Noh Huideok came to his senses, he was already approaching them and speaking.
“You are truly remarkable! I am so dull that I have not even mastered the basics! I truly envy you.”
Noh Huideok knew.
He knew that, at some point, his alias had become the Undeserving One.
He knew what the people of the Jianghu thought of him.
But he could not endure it.
Even if they were country martial artists, were they not still martial artists?
Then should they not pursue a realm as high as the heavens?
Did they intend to crawl along the ground, never leaving their wells, convinced that they were doing everything right?
He simply...
Could not stand the sight of them.
“These fake martial artists...”
He wandered the Guangdong martial world for ten years.
Then, for the first time, he met one.
“It still... hasn't withered.”
Noh Huideok sat at the desk in his room, staring intently at a single leaf.
A leaf that Yeon Sowol, the rising young expert of the Guangdong martial world, had cut several days ago.
The leaf had still not withered.
As though it had yet to realize that it had already been severed.
Before that quiet yet razor-sharp harmony, goosebumps rose over Noh Huideok's skin.
“So there was one. The real thing. Even here in Guangdong...”
Sorrow and delight tangled chaotically in his eyes.
* * *
The Shinheung County Martial Assembly, led by Yi Yubaek, continued amid commotion.
“The standard for selecting the unit commanders was not skill alone. We prioritized trust. We chose people who knew one another well enough to keep each other in check. The bandits of Heavenly Road Mountain are cunning. They will try by any means to learn of our campaign plans in advance. To prevent that, we needed unit commanders who knew one another well and had close ties through which they could exert influence.”
“So in the end, you picked unit commanders from among your friends? I understand the general idea, but isn't that a little harsh on people who came a long way with good intentions?”
“I understand why you might feel that way. But countless lives are at stake. Even if it seems a little harsh or unreasonable, we must arrange matters in a way that lets us fight with greater confidence. I ask for your understanding on that point.”
“I understand, but I can't fight while taking another person's orders. What do you think of that?”
“That is perfectly understandable. Those who do not wish to join a unit may make their own judgments and act independently. As long as you take part in the campaign in some form, I, Yi Yubaek, will repay you wholeheartedly.”
“A group fighting a group, and you expect us to act alone? Will we even be able to fight properly that way? Why not let us form a unit among ourselves?”
Yi Yubaek's voice hardened.
“That cannot be allowed. If everyone begins forming separate units, then selecting these thirty regular units will lose its meaning.”
“Then make us one of the regular units. I don't think I lack what it takes to be a unit commander.”
“Well...”
Yi Yubaek's heart ached a little.
He had anticipated that this situation might arise.
If matters truly went poorly, he had even decided beforehand how much he could concede.
Still, making those concessions hurt.
The Heavenly Road Mountain bandits were cunning, and dealing with them required at least a minimum level of security.
They needed to catch the enemy off guard even once to wipe them out in one stroke.
If things went wrong, the bandits might scatter and flee, leaving the entire campaign to fizzle out.
Or worse, they might fall into a trap and suffer losses they never needed to suffer.
But if the number of unit commanders who shared their strategy increased, security would inevitably become weaker.
‘Still, there is no helping it... I have not gained enough support and influence to crush every complaint and press on.’
He had no choice but to yield where he could.
Just as Yi Yubaek forced open his reluctant mouth to speak,
“Senior, may I, a junior of the Jianghu, dare to say a few words?”
Yeon Sowol, who had been quietly standing behind Yi Yubaek, suddenly raised his voice.
Everyone turned to look.
They saw Yeon Sowol. Around him stood Yi Yubaek's three disciples, Kang Muhyeok, Seon Jehun, and Mo Cheong.
From their expressions, Yi Yubaek understood that Kang Muhyeok, Seon Jehun, and the others had encouraged Yeon Sowol to step forward. It seemed they intended to lean on Yeon Sowol's recently elevated reputation.
‘Hm... This will not be easy.’
Yeon Sowol might have a great reputation, but it was still only the reputation of a promising young junior.
He was liked by martial artists seasoned in the Jianghu, but not yet respected by them. That was Yeon Sowol's reputation as Yi Yubaek had understood it until a few days ago.
At that level, this could easily backfire. Concern naturally filled Yi Yubaek's eyes.
“I do not think acting independently means one cannot fight well. On the contrary, while groups fight groups, would it not let one assess the situation and respond swiftly and flexibly? For that reason, the three direct disciples of Windflow Martial Academy and I have all decided to act independently. We will prove that independent action is not an option to dismiss, but can instead become an opportunity.”
Yi Yubaek slightly furrowed his brow.
‘This is bad.’
The core of that argument was simple.
Acting independently is not bad.
Because we will be acting independently too.
There was a fatal flaw.
‘What if they ask, “Who do you think you are?”...’
Neither Yeon Sowol nor even Kang Muhyeok, Yi Yubaek's eldest disciple, had yet earned enough respect in the Guangdong martial world.
This could easily look like a green junior butting into a conversation among seniors and acting high and mighty.
Yi Yubaek felt dizzy as he considered how to handle the situation.
“Young Hero Yeon Sowol is acting independently?”
“If Young Hero Yeon is acting independently, then I accept it.”
“That is right. For people with real skill, it might even be an opportunity.”
“Exactly. A man should have that kind of spirit! As expected of Yeon Seonhong!”
“If you hate acting alone that much, can't you just join one of the thirty regular units? Do you really have to make a separate unit with only your close friends? That seems rather petty, does it not?”
The Jianghu martial artists who had not expressed any particular opinion until now all raised their voices at once, lending force to Yeon Sowol's words.
‘What is this?’
They were not people Yi Yubaek had recruited beforehand.
Yet they were passionately helping Yeon Sowol.
“Sowol...?”
Without thinking, Yi Yubaek turned around.
At that moment, Yeon Sowol was looking over the Jianghu martial artists who were giving his words such enthusiastic support.
‘Everyone...!’
The first person to raise his voice in support had been Seong Anjin. As he had promised Yeon Sowol at the Jipseong River, he offered his full support.
Those who raised their voices after him were all people who had been nearby during the incident with Noh Huideok.
Their favorable impression from then had remained unchanged, and they now lent their strength to Yeon Sowol's words.
An uncontrollable smile crept onto Yeon Sowol's lips.
‘They are really helping me like this!’
Proudly, he answered Yi Yubaek.
“I also prepared an act of my own.”
At those words, goosebumps rose over Yi Yubaek's skin.
“Sowol. You... Not only in martial arts...”
He took in everything Yi Yubaek taught him and turned it into results.
Yi Yubaek drew a deep breath and nodded firmly.
Combined with the people Yi Yubaek had recruited, those supporting Yeon Sowol now made up well over half the crowd.
The mood had clearly shifted in their favor.
Yet the voices of discontent did not vanish completely. The people of the Jianghu were all loud by nature.
“Come on. Can't you at least choose the unit commanders fairly? Hold sparring matches, sparring matches!”
“Agreed. I understand this matter of trust, but... it still feels wrong. Are you saying you cannot trust me?”
Despite the changed mood, some people still tried to press the matter.
Some capable martial artists felt their pride had been badly wounded at coming all this way only to never get a chance to become a unit commander.
Then, a man raised his voice.
“Surely those selected as unit commanders were chosen because they possess sufficient skill. People as dull and inadequate as myself should naturally join as unit members, or act separately.”
Step.
Step.
A man slowly walked forward with a sword tucked in his arms.
The martial artists of Guangdong who recognized him began whispering.
“The Undeserving One!”
“Noh Huideok... They say he is an expert on the verge of the peak realm!”
Noh Huideok shook his head after hearing their whispers.
“On the verge of the peak realm? I am still far from it. Would you like to see?”
Shing.
He suddenly drew his sword in the middle of the crowd.
Clang!
The sword swept through the air at a speed too fast to see.
Tap!
Then he returned it to its sheath.
“...”
“...”
No one could speak.
The paving stones on the road had been split in a long, straight line.
They were as even as though cleaved by a chisel, then carefully smoothed with one.
Not every swordsman who had reached the late first-rate realm could demonstrate such ghostly skill.
No, it was an exquisite sword strike most of those present had never witnessed even once in their lives.
Before them, Noh Huideok lamented.
“Look. My master said the cut surface should be like a mirror. My master's sword truly was so. But what of mine? It is only straight. The surface is dull, reflecting nothing at all. With such lacking skill, how could I dare take on the role of unit commander? Is that not so?”
As he asked, he met each person's gaze in turn.
“Is that not so?”
They were all people who had insisted they should become unit commanders, demanding to know why they had not been chosen.
“Ahem...”
“Cough...”
Every one of them cleared their throats and avoided Noh Huideok's eyes.
At last, every complaint subsided, and the Martial Assembly united behind one purpose.
‘Great Hero Noh Huideok... helped us?’
Yeon Sowol could not understand the situation.
He had thought Noh Huideok might hold a grudge against him, but never that he would feel favor toward him.
Then,
Noh Huideok met Yeon Sowol's eyes for a moment and slightly lowered his head, filled with deep respect and goodwill.
“Sowol?”
Yi Yubaek saw it and turned to Yeon Sowol in surprise.
Yeon Sowol was at a loss.
“Uh. I do not know either. Perhaps he thinks well of me?”
The affairs of the Jianghu could be difficult to understand sometimes. Yeon Sowol only blinked for a moment before hurriedly bowing back to Noh Huideok.
A faint smile touched Noh Huideok's lips.
Footnotes:
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